Diablo 3 General Article: The Wait is OVER

God… has it been twelve years really? I can’t even begin to recount all that’s happened in my life since Diablo 2 dropped on store shelves in 2000. I was sixteen. When Diablo came out, I was twelve. I’ve more than doubled my age since the first game was released and I forever became a slave to Blizzard’s venerable action-RPG series. I’m not trying to make any of you feel old. But what I mean to say is that Diablo has literally been a game I’ve played since I first took steps into the world of PC gaming. Along with Ultima VII and Wing Commander, Diablo was what first showed me just how a game could transport you into another world and make you sweat and pant from stress and tension. I mean… really, though we laugh at it now, how freaky was the Butcher back then?

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And now here we are. Twelve years since the last entry, and nearly twenty since the first game. Not too much has changed. You’ll kill everything you see with the click of a mouse. You’ll loot everything and portal back to town more than you can count. Sure, there’s a new Real-Money Auction House, a brand new skill system, and a whole new way to craft items. Let’s not forget the crazy-weird Witch Doctor, either. So maybe a lot has changed… either way, it’s been over a decade since I got to explore Sanctuary. As you’re reading this, stuck at work and dying to get home. Click over to our streams page, where I’m likely slaying away and loving every minute of it.

It’s been too long, Diablo. Welcome back.

GARRETT'S THOUGHTS

This is a picture of my Diablo 3 T-shirt. I have had it since BlizzCon 2008. I know Blizzard has a reputation of taking time to polish their games, but now I am finally excited for it to be here. I show this shirt because I have warn it about a hundred of times since then. It was my favorite shirt for a long time. To me this represents Diablo 3 in all its glory. It is like a flag that has been through battles and come out even cooler than before. Now, today, I'll take my first steps into the open Diablo world again after years from Diablo 2. Diablo has always meant a lot to me as a game, because it is just pure fun. Gratz to the team at Blizzard and best of luck to all the fans out there.

SUZIE’S THOUGHTS

Before you say it: Yeah, we KNOW Diablo III isn't an MMO but there is a huge cross over interest in the game so...yeah.

Diablo, the first one, I mean, was the first computer game I’d ever played. Up to that point in my life, I had avoided computers as a “fad” if you can actually believe it. But by the time I finally succumbed, I was ready for gaming. Of all the unlikely people to be playing any video game, my dad, a 60+ man, told me about Diablo. Of course, seeing how much he was playing and how fun it looked, I went out and got my own copy. The rest is, as they say, history.

Practically from the moment that I first finished Diablo, I was clamoring for Diablo 2 which was, by that time, already in the works. Those five or so years seemed to go on forever and hearing Blizzard say, yet again, “We’ll release it when it’s ready” set my teeth on edge every single time. Yet the wait was worth it in the end as Diablo 2 far exceeded what I hoped it would and set the action-RPG industry a new standard of excellence to attain. In the intervening years since Lord of Destruction’s release, I’ve maintained my level 99 Amazon and my level 95 hardcore Amazon. Yes, they still live and will for a long while yet, I suspect.

And now it’s been more than a decade waiting for Diablo III. Today the wait finally is over and we get to find out what comes beyond the Skeleton King, to see if we finally get to lay the big red guy to rest once and for all. I can NOT wait. I can't wait to explore the new ways to look at an old friend and I am anxious to see all of the shiny things that Blizzard has in store for us.

DEMON HUNTER FTW, baby!

Suzie Ford / Suzie is the Associate Editor and News Manager at MMORPG.com. An avid gamer, Suzie lives in the desert Southwestern US with her own personal minion.